Nightchill
Nightchill was a High Mage of the Malazan Empire.Gardens of the Moon, Dramatis Personae, UK MMPB p.xiii She was raven haired, tall, and imperious. Her face was "broad and flat, the eyes strangely far apart, the lips thick and downturned".Dancer's Lament, Chapter 5, US TPB p.103 Despite her unassuming physical appearance, she was inhumanly strong.Dancer's Lament, Chapter 2, US HC p.45Dancer's Lament, Chapter 18, US HC p.346 She often displayed a cruel streak which it was said the Emperor "used to drool over". Quick Ben thought her "a nasty piece of work". Nightchill had taken Bellurdan as a life-long companion,Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.72 and it was said he balanced her hard edges.Memories of Ice, Chapter 20, US SFBC p.724 Her Warren was Rashan,Memories of Ice, Chapter 5 the Path of Darkness and Illusion. In Gardens of the Moon Nightchill had come down from the Fenn Mountains on the Quon Tali mainland during the Unification Wars. She commanded a company of Adepts during the Emperor's time.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.73 After the death of the Emperor, Nightchill and Bellurdan had been told to report to Nathilog where they sat idle for the six or seven years prior to the Siege of Pale. Their last campaign before then had been Seven Cities.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.73 Nightchill, Bellurdan, and A'Karonys were grouped together on a hill near Moon's Spawn immediately prior to the last battle of the Siege of Pale. During the confrontation a Kenryll'ah demon spawned and tore her limb from limb.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.79 Her remains were collected by her lover, Bellurdan. He kept them in a sack into which was woven a spell of protection by Tattersail so that he could find the right place to bury her remains.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.100-103 When being attacked by Bellurdan, Tattersail remembered the preservation spell she had put on Nightchill's body and tried to make use of it to protect herself. The following conflagration resulted in the creation of a creature that was then reborn as the Rhivi child Silverfox, in whom the souls of Nightchill, Bellurdan and Tattersail came together.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 10Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 11 In Memories of Ice Quick Ben pondered that throughout history, several Nightchills had been mentioned in different places. She was presumably present at the expulsion of the Seti from Fenn on Quon Tali (almost two thousand years prior), in the First Age of the Nathilog Wars and the Liberation of Karakarang on Seven Cities (nine centuries prior)... again and again a sorceress by the same name. He considered that it might have been the same one each time.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 5, UK MMPB p.193 It gradually became obvious that beyond having been a Malazan mage, Nightchill had been the Elder Goddess referred to as the "Sister of Cold Nights" and had chosen "to play the mortal game". Along with the Elder Gods K'rul and Draconus, she had taken part in the punishment of the High King Kallor 119,736 years before Burn's Sleep. The three gathered together for the first time in millennia intending to liberate the people of Jacuruku from their cruel tyrant Kallor after the destruction wrought by the fall of the Crippled God. But Kallor had prepared for their arrival by spitefully incinerating the continent and killing his seven million citizens. The shocked Elder Gods cursed the High King to live forever and never Ascend, and yet still suffer the ravages of time. At the same time, Kallor used the power of his subjects' deaths to curse each of his accusers in turn. The High Kings's curse for her said that "unhuman hands shall tear your body into pieces, upon a field of battle, yet you shall know no respite - thus, my curse upon you, Sister of Cold Nights" - a fate that proved true with her soul having become part of Silverfox.Memories of Ice, Prologue After dealing with Kallor, K'rul created a new Warren into which the three gods swept the ruins of the High King's empire.Memories of Ice, Prologue During the Pannion War of 1164 BS, a parley between the forces of High Fist Dujek Onearm and Caladan Brood included Brood's second-in-command, Kallor. The High King immediately recognised his old enemy, Nightchill, within Silverfox. Calling her an abomination, he argued for her destruction.Memories of Ice, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.104-105 With his newly found powers as Master of the Deck, Ganoes Paran could sense the entwined souls of Tattersail, Nightchill, and Bellurdan within the girl, Silverfox. He sought to bring Tattersail to the forefront of the girl's consciousness and keep the dangerous and self-interested High Mages at bay. At times, it was suspected the girl's bitterness was a sign of Nightchill's influence.Memories of Ice, Chapter 4, US SFBC p.144 Nightchill was able to speak directly to Paran's mind even when he and Silverfox were separated by vast distances. Amidst the Siege of Capustan, his thoughts were visited by a coldly amused Nightchill who sought to use him for her own purposes. But Paran surprised her with the strength of his resistance, invoking the blood of the Hound of Shadow within him. Nightchill argued that Paran misread her intentions as well as those of the other Elder Gods. They were not as cruel as they were thought to be, and she valued Tattersail's honour and integrity. The Gods and their tools were involved in a battle campaign above human understanding, and keeping him ignorant of its scope was an act of mercy. Nightchill also advocated for the release of Draconus from his prison. But such an act would require the destruction of the sword, Dragnipur, and the potential release of the legion of evils contained within it. She asked Paran to consider that if anyone knew how to overcome that obstacle, it was Draconus himself. Finally, Nightchill revealed that she sought no vengeance against any members of the Malazan Empire who had been involved in her death. Instead, she sought revenge only on Kallor, the architect of her curse.Memories of Ice, Chapter 17, US SFBC p.578-583 During the Pannion campaign, Dujek explained to Whiskeyjack the true story behind the events at Pale. Nightchill had been no mere mortal sorcerer and had ambitions of her own beyond those of the Malazan Empire. She used Bellurdan as her researcher and had sought to take Anomander Rake's sword, Dragnipur. At Pale, she killed A'Karonys because he was suspicious of her intentions, and Tayschrenn killed her in turn. Dujek called the debacle one of the worst foul-ups in Malazan history.Memories of Ice, Chapter 21, US SFBC p.771-772 By the end of the Pannion War, Silverfox had reconciled the various souls within her and made peace with the T'lan Imass.Memories of Ice, Chapter 25, US SFBC p.911/951/972 In Midnight Tides Shortly after the sundering of Kurald Emurlahn, the Malazan world was invaded through a violent rent by the combined armies of Silchas Ruin's Tiste Andii and Scabandari Bloodeye's Tiste Edur. The invaders defeated an army of K'Chain Che'Malle before Scabandari betrayed Silchas and murdered his surviving Andii. The Jaghut, Gothos, was observing the betrayal from a nearby ridge when he sensed the presence of an Elder God come in answer to the rift between world. Before learning it was Mael he considered it likely to be one of a number of other gods, including the Sister of Cold Nights.Midnight Tides, Prologue, US SFBC p.24-25 In Dancer's Lament (Information needed) In Deadhouse Landing (Information needed) In Kellanved's Reach (Information needed) Notes and references de:Schwester der Kalten Nächte pl:Nightchill Category:Elder Gods Category:Females Category:High Mages Category:Rashan mages